CSI: Charming
by sova
Summary: When everything gets out of hand with rival clubs, SAMCRO calls in nomads for backup. One of them brings his sister along who has a particular skill set that benefits the club. Young, successful and fearless she's got something to prove and nothing to lose - except for maybe everything as she juggles her career and family loyalty at the expense of her heart. JuicexOCxHappy
1. CSI: Charming

**Disclaimer: This story will be slightly AU-ish in the way that it will not follow the TV series exactly. Events will be happening on my own created timeline and may or may not correlate with the show. I do not own SOA, obviously, but do maintain the rights to all my original characters and drama that will ensue. This story is rated M and I plan on putting that rating to good use - consider yourself forewarned! **

**If you feel inclined to review, please do so! I am mostly writing this story to get it out of my head, but I would love to hear other's thoughts on it! **

* * *

"Where you at Natty?" a voice asked through her headset. She turned the speed down on the treadmill so she could talk to her brother without being out of breath. She adjusted the microphone clipped to her sports bra before answering.

"Gym, what's up?" she replied as her breathing returned to normal. Looking down at the display she had gone three miles so far - not bad she thought to herself only half listening to what her brother was saying.

"Remember how I said I might be calling in a favor when you got to Charming?" her brother asked skirting around the real reason that he called. Natalie groaned, she hadn't even been in town for 48 hours. She was used to being called in by her brother or one of his friends to clean up their messes, but this was a new record even for him. Bikers she thought to herself, rolling her eyes as she continued her work out.

"You already fucked shit up Ace?" She teased. "I think that might be a new record."

"Naw, wasn't me this time Natty," her brother answered. "The club is kind here is kind of in a tough spot, need to see if you can come work your magic."

She hit the red stop button on the machine and stepped off to the side of the treadmill and gathered her stuff. Annoyed as she was to be interrupted, she was always there to help her brother and the club if need be. Trouble seemed to follow her brother, and all of the Sons really. With her brother being a nomad, this wasn't the first time she had been called into some tiny middle of nowhere town.

"Sure, let me take a shower and get changed and I'll meet up with you," she answered exiting the shitty hotel gym. The place reeked of mold, but it was cheap and on the way into town so she had decided to deal with it. But she definitely wouldn't be staying any longer than she had to

"We kind of need you now Nat," her brother answered hesitantly. "We have a tight deadline and I know how you don't like to be rushed."

"Jesus Ace," she swore at her brother as she changed directions heading to her car instead of a hot shower. "I'm on my way, where the fuck am I going and you better have all the shit I need when I get there."

"Teller-Morrow Auto Shop," he answered instantly. "And I got the same stuff from the list you gave me last time, that good?"

"Yeah, I'll be there in twenty," she told him before hanging up and typing the location into her phone. GPS said it was a thirty minute drive and she just smiled as she clicked her seatbelt determined to make it there in fifteen now.

* * *

"Someone's pulling up, didn't you lock the fucking gate prospect?" Tig yelled at Half Sac as he watched the maroon yukon pull into the shop's lot. They were closing the shop for the day, it was hard to do business with a dead body in the back room. Tig cursed loudly as he made his way over to the vehicle getting ready to tell the him to fuck off and come back tomorrow but he hesitated when the driver stepped out.

Natalie didn't miss the stutter step in the man's gait when she hopped out of her two-door SUV. She knew her white blonde hair - which was shaved on one side - icy blue eyes, and toned figure were enough to catch the attention of most guys but it was usually her fuck-off attitude that kept them away.

"Hey baby we're closed but if …" Tig started before being cut off.

"Not interested," she interrupted before he finished his sentence. Seeing her brother sitting at a table with some of the local Sons she brushed past the older man in front of her and made her way over to the table.

A younger guy with a mohawk and two tribal head tattoos alerted the others of her presence causing all of them to turn around and look at her at once. Well that was discreet she thought, making sure to keep her pace even and posture tight. She wasn't a sweetbutt or a croweater and she was going to damn sure they knew it.

"That's a fucking hot piece of ass," one of the bikers called out as she approached, the others sitting around him nodding in agreement. Her brother stood up to greet her but not before slapping the back of the guy's head who had catcalled her roughly.

"Watch your fucking mouth prospect and show some god damn respect" Ace growled at him. "And you, couldn't you have put some fucking clothes on?"

Nat looked down and shrugged at her sneakers, black nike compression leggings and matching sports bra. She had throw on a lightweight grey jacket, but as hot as it was in Charming he was lucky that she had even bothered.

"You're the one who said you needed me here ASAP remember?" she replied.

"You did say that man," the man with the mohawk chimed in. "Don't be so hard on her, it's not like anyone here minds."

"Shut up Juice," Ace said glaring at him now. She rolled her eyes at their pissing contest and shoved her hands in her pockets waiting for them to return to the matter at hand.

"If ya'll are done checking each other out, I would like to get to the body before it gets any hotter out here," she spoke up, wincing slightly at her midwest slip. Natalie and Ace had been born and raised in California, but Nat had gone off to Texas for college and picked up some of the jargon along the way. She had grown out of using it since she moved back to the coast, but now and again it slipped out much to her displeasure.

"Ya'll?" the man named Juice asked her with a shiteating grin.

"Say something about it, I dare ya," she threatened narrowing her eyes at him. He slinked back onto the table immediately causing the others around him to laugh slightly.

"Stop scaring the kids Natty," her brother teased. "Clay and Jax are inside, they can show you what you're dealing with."

She turned to follow her brother into the dimly lit bar, the others following slightly behind her. She nodded to her brother as he opened the door for her, motioning for her to go ahead. He shoved the prospect back when he tried to go through the door as well telling him to get it for himself. The hierarchy of the club never ceased to entertain her.

Inside two men were sitting at the bar expectantly. One was older and slightly greying while the other was much younger with shaggy blonde hair - Clay and Jax she presumed. Both men looked her up and down, the blonde taking more time than the older man next to him.

"This her?" the older man called out. Ace nodded before moving up next to her.

"Yeah," he replied. "This is my sister Natalie, Nat this is Jax and Clay. Clay's the president of the MC and Jax is his second in command."

She nodded to show that she was listening as he introduced the two men.

"And you said she's good?" the one introduced as Clay asked as he took another sip of the amber liquid in front of him.

"One of the best," she answered, not waiting for her brother to reply. Her eyes met with the president's and she held his stare, neither of them willing to be the first one to look away. She knew she came off cocky, but she also knew that she had the skill set to back it up. Six years of college, two bachelors, a masters degree and ten years experience made her comfortable enough to make that claim. At 24 she was one of top professionals in her field and damn proud of it.

"For our sake I hope you are darlin," Jax spoke up as he stood up from the barstool. He motioned for her to follow as he and Clay made their way through the back doors of the clubhouse. The stench in the air let her know that they were getting close, and it wasn't long before they were standing in the open doorway of one of the car garages behind the building. She immediately started to make a mental list of everything that would have to be cleaned or removed. Luckily the garage wasn't too big, but the pools of blood on the floor were already starting to stain the concrete she would have to work fast.

"You have my stuff?" She asked her brother who was standing next to her. He nodded pointing over to a stack of bags sitting against the wall.

"Good," she replied still scanning the room. The body had been removed very recently, but there was still a minefield of DNA evidence scattered about.

"What's our timeline looking like?" she asked moving towards the supplies. She tied up her and tucked it under a non-descript black ball cap from one of the bags before tying a bandana with a skeleton on it around her neck loosely.

"We have a county forensics team coming to sweep the area in two and a half hours," Jax answered from the doorway. She pulled the black rubber gloves up her arms and nodded - she would definitely need to work fast. Without saying anything else she started to pull the chemicals and brushes from the bags and laid everything out in front of her - satisfied that she knew what she was doing, or at least looked like she did, the three men left her to work in peace. She set the timer on her phone and pulled up one of her playlists - grabbing the epoxy, bleach and a bristle brush she got to work.

Two hours later and she walked through and did a final inspection of the room, using a makeshift black light to check for anything that she might have missed. She ran through the checklist of what she would have checked for if she was on the forensics team - which she technically would be in just a matter of days - and picked up her supplies satisfied that the room was spotless.

Cleaning crime scenes wasn't a particularly glamorous job, but it made her some extra cash on the side and had kept her brother and the club out of trouble more often than not - that was the real reason she went into forensics in the first place. But being able to travel across the state and investigate forensic clues on capital cases was a pretty sweet day job too.

She walked back into the main part of the clubhouse where all the men were idly passing time. Setting down the basket of supplies on the bar counter she pulled down the bandanna and let her hair fall out of the hat.

"We good?" Jax asked looking up from the pool table.

"Golden, and with time to spare" she responded taking off her gloves and tucking them into her jacket pocket. "Put some of this stuff in the bathroom or kitchen and no one will suspect a thing."

Jax nodded and ordered one of the prospects to spread the supplies out in different dorms.

"Now that you're done with work baby, how bout you stick around to play?" Tig asked her, eyeing her up from his seat at the bar.

"Still not even remotely interested," she responded moving to the exit.

"Should we call you if they find anything darling?" Jax called out before she reached the door. She turned around after opening the door and shot him a sly smile.

"No need, they aren't going to find a thing," she replied before slipping out. She climbed back into to her truck and pulled on a pair of sunglasses. Pulling out of the auto shop she sang along to the radio quietly thinking about taking that hot shower she had been denied earlier.

* * *

"They fucking came up empty handed man," Juice told the group excitedly as they all sat in church. The forensics team had searched the place top to bottom for hours and had found nothing but "bodily fluids" in the clubhouse.

"They lit that shit up - black lighted the shit out of the place," he explained. "They checked the garage floor three times, dusted all the tools and even checked down the fucking drain and didn't get shit. Your sister is fucking pro Ace."

Ace nodded in acknowledgement - she had never let him down yet.

"So what's her deal?" Clay asked from the head of the table. He had taken a risk letting someone from the outside in, but with only hours left he had been desperate. If Hale had caught wind of any foul play the club would have been in deep shit with the law. Last thing he needed was half his guys getting locked up on suspicion while they were in the middle of a feud with the Mayans, One-Niners and the fucking Aryans.

"After you called asking some of us to come down I asked her if she could get transferred down here," Ace explained. "She works for the state bureau of investigation and gets a lot of leeway in her job assignments - and it just so happened that your local district is short on competent forensic investigators at the moment."

"Obviously," Chibs laughed from across the table.

"You sure we can trust her?" Happy gravely voice sounded from the other side of the room.

"Absolutely," Ace answered automatically. "She's blood. She's gotten me out of trouble more than once since I've patched in. And she's gone out her way to get the club out of hot water too, call up to any of the northern charters - they'll tell you."

"Well keep her close for a while," Clay said, taking control of the meeting once again. "We have some shit about to go down and we could use someone on the inside."

"She uh, she has some rules though Clay," Ace spoke up hesitantly, knowing that the prez wasn't going to like it.

"Fucking women and their rules," Clay groaned. "I thought you said she'd work for the club no questions asked?"

"Yeah, and she will," Ace said. "But she has rules - nothing too crazy. I can have her stop by tomorrow if you want and have her run them by you?"

Clay ran a hand down his face before nodding once, "fine."

Clay adjourned the meeting and everyone scattered back into the bar. Ace sat down at a table with a bunch of the guys and immediately regretted it as his sister came up in conversation.

"So about your sister man, she single?" Juice asked with a lopsided grin.

"She like it rough?" Tig added lighting up a cigarette.

"Jesus Christ guys, why don't you two go jack each other off and leave her out of it," Ace told them, downing the shot glass in front of him quickly.

"With a rack like that man, and those pants weren't hurting either, you can't blame us," Juice defended.

Ace rolled his eyes and shrugged. He knew the other guys would be attracted to his sister, shit they were attracted to just about anything with a pair of tits and legs.

"Fine, fine," he conceded. "Go after her if you want, but I don't want to fucking hear about it."

"Really boy-o, just releasing the dogs on the lass like that?" Chibs teased from beside him. Ace just shrugged again.

"Nat is more than capable of handling herself against you asswipes," he said. "She's more of a man than half you fuckers anyways."

"Nah," Happy answered. "She's definitely all woman, trust me brother - we all noticed." 

* * *

**Short first chapter, but there it is. I picture Natalie to look a lot like Natalie Dormer (coincidence there? I think not) in the Hunger Games - minus the head tattoos. **  
**Review if you liked it, review if you didn't. **

**=]**


	2. Ground Rules

"Nat open the door, it's me," she heard her brother's voice call from outside her dingy hotel room. She cursed under her breath, he was an hour early. He had called earlier telling her that he was going to swing by and pick her up, apparently Clay and his old lady were having a barbecue and she was supposed to make an appearance to sort things out with the club and officially meet everyone.

She shimmied into her black skinny jeans buttoning them easily before unlatching the door.

"It's open," she called out, not bothering to get it for him. He was early, which meant she was running late - and she hated being late. Pulling the wooden dresser open she skimmed through her shirts before picking out a dark maroon crop top that hugged her torso.

When she heard the door open she turned to greet her brother but found herself flushing red instead when she noticed that he wasn't alone. Flanking her brother were two other nomads. Pope, who had ridden in with them and a man named Happy who used to ride nomad before patching over into the Redwood branch - both of whom were now staring at her with amused grins. Sighing she rolled her eyes and pulled the top over her head.

"Jesus Natty," her brother groaned as she finished getting dressed.

"Didn't know you were bringing company," she argued, threading a plain brown leather belt through her pant loops. Pulling on a matching brown pair of riding boots she readjusted her shirt as she stood up. It fell just above her belt, but had a knack for riding up every so often. She debated changing but her brother ushering her out of the room grabbing things for her as they went didn't give her a chance to.

"No purse or anything doll?" Pope asked. She shook her head and shoved her room key, license and debit card into her back pocket.

"Just gets in the way," she told him.

"That and you leave it fucking everywhere," her brother complained as he led her down the stairs to where their bikes were parked.

"That too," she admitted. She was meticulous about her work and about keeping things clean, but ask her where she left her car keys or purse and that was a different story. Unimportant details were overwritten with important facts and data, a useful but often annoying trait.

"Get your helmet," her brother told her as he straddled his bike. Both Happy and Pope mirrored him as they revved their engines. She hurried to her vehicle and grabbed the helmet she kept stashed in the back, double checking the locks before heading back. Her brother was hanging up his cell phone as she adjusted her helmet ensuring that the strap was tight but comfortable.

"Change of plans Natty," her brother told her pocketing his phone. "Some boys from the Oregon charter found one of the rats we've been looking for, Clay wants me to meet them halfway. You're going to have to ride with one of these two back into Charming."

Pope winked at her and she groaned.

"Can't I just drive myself?" she asked hopefully. She didn't mind riding behind her brother, but riding bitch on the back of a strangers bike wasn't high on her to-do list.

"Nope, it's going to be crowded enough as is, and we're going to need you to stick around after the party thins out," he explained adjusting his helmet which signaled to her that this discussion was about over. "Your car will just attract attention Nat."

He was right and she knew it, the less people who knew about her involvement with the Sons the better, but that didn't mean she had to be happy about it.

"Come on Natty darling," Pope cooed jokingly from his bike. She shook her head, that was not a mistake she was going to relive. She had ridden with Pope before, and while he knew how to handle his bike he was clearly not accustomed to having someone on the back behind him.

She turned and walked up to Happy who was looking at her with a blank stare. She took in his shaved head, hard gaze, strong jaw, and his muscled arms riddled with tattoos quickly. Strong and silent she determined, that was something she could deal with - especially when they looked as good as he did.

"You mind?" she asked him hesitantly. "I'd ride with Pope but he stops and starts like a damn banshee and I don't really want his elbows digging into my ribs every ten seconds."

"That was one trip," Pope moaned from beside them.

"One trip was enough," she quipped back. Happy looked between both of them before nodding at her once.

"Get on," he told her, bracing the bike. Smirking she swung her leg over the bike and used the pegs to seat herself comfortably, mindful to not sit too close or too far back from him. He waited patiently for her she noticed as she adjusted herself and rested her legs where they wouldn't get burned and squeezed her legs comfortably around the bike. Content that she was as settled as she was going to get, she wrapped her arms around his waist - noticing the taut lean muscle underneath his cut and shirt - and squeezed slightly letting him know that she was ready.

Getting her message he nodded to Pope and her brother before taking off. Pope followed beside them as her brother shot off in the opposite direction. The ride to Charming was relatively easy and enjoyable. Happy was a lot gentler in his riding than she had expected. It wasn't long until they were pulling up into a residential neighborhood, parking next to the other group of bikes. Her brother wasn't kidding when he said it would be packed - there were cars and motorcycles lining up and down both sides of the street.

Pope jumped off his bike quickly, but she waited until Happy was ready before she started moving around. After a second he looked back at her and nodded giving her the cue to hop off. Swinging off gracefully she unbuckled her helmet and shook out her hair, she wasn't one to typically fuss over her looks but she knew helmet hair was one of the least attractive things ever and she wanted to make a good impression here. Happy stood up from his bike and undid his helmet as well, holding out a hand to take hers which surprised her. Hanging both on the handlebar of his bike he turned and walked towards the door.

She followed behind him and Pope who knocked on the door loudly. After a moment a young blond girl opened the door. With her low cut top and painted on shorts she doubted that this was Clay's old lady. Her suspicion was confirmed as Happy brushed past her and Pope stopped to flirt - definitely not anybody's old lady then.

Moving past the two blocking the door she stepped into the nice spacious home. She scanned the house quickly realizing that she recognized no one. She had just assumed that she would have her brother around to introduce her to everyone so she hadn't even bothered trying to remember everyone from the other day.

"Hey, Happy," she called out causing the man to stop and turn to look at her blankly. She wondered if he was annoyed with her after having to double up on the ride back, but his blank expression made it hard for her to get a good reading on him.

"Mind pointing me in the direction of Clay or his old lady?" she asked moving closer so she wouldn't have to yell that out in a crowded room. Not saying anything he just turned and walked toward the sliding glass door that led to the backyard, stopping before he exited to check if she was following.

Once outside it didn't take her long to spot Clay who was sitting in a lawn chair with a older brunette woman on her lap. In tight, but more conservative jeans and a jeweled tank top she fit the role of an old-lady far better than the croweater at the door.

"Hey darlin, glad you made it," Jax greeted her coming out from the crowd of Sons surrounding the beer cooler. He used one of his rings to pop the cap off one of the beers in his hand before handing it to her and repeating the motion on his own.

"Thanks," she told him, enjoying the taste of ice cold beer against the hot Charming heat.

"No problem," he replied motioning for her to follow him. "Come on, let me introduce you to everyone."

She nodded respectfully to Clay as they approached, noticing that he looked a lot younger when he was away from the clubhouse and laughing.

"This is my mom, Gemma," Jax introduced the woman on Clay's lap. Gemma wasted no time looking her up and down and evaluating her. Meeting her eyes she raised an eyebrow at the once over - she wasn't a sweetbutt or a croweater and she wasn't going to be walked all over like one.

"Are you even of legal age to be drinking that sweetie?" she questioned sweetly, though the malice in her voice was unmistakable. "How old are you exactly?"

She took another swig of her beer before answering, "old enough."

"Play nice Gem," Clay warned. Jax rolled his eyes and pulled her over the next group of people, a few faces standing out from the day before.

"Chibs," Jax said pointing to each man as he introduced them. He an older Irish man with silver hair and wicked scars on his cheeks. She nodded her head towards him as she tried to keep up with Jax.

"Tig." The one who had tried to hit on her, twice.

"Half Sac." There's a story there she thought to herself.

"Ratboy, he's our prospect," Jax continued. "You know Happy and the idiot grinning at the end is Juice."

The man with the tribal head tattoos she recognized. He smiled brightly at her and she couldn't resist smiling back. He's definitely a charmer. Jax introduced her to other members of the club before dropping her off with the old-ladies and assorted sweetbutts. Trying not to look displeased she started to look for a reason to get up and leave the all-women gossip fest. She was much more comfortable hanging out and talking with the bikers than she was with their old-ladies.

Taking another sip of her beer she realized it was empty - that was a good enough excuse for her. Excusing herself she made her way back outside towards the cooler she had saw earlier. Grabbing another cold one she sighed slightly realizing that she didn't have a bottle opener on her.

"Her lass, bring it ova," Chibs instructed from his resting spot against a low brick wall. She smiled up at him in gratitude leaning against the wall next to him as he fiddled with the cap. Juice, Happy and one of the prospects she had forgotten the name of were also standing around with him.

"So don't you want to know how the feds made out on their raid last night?" Juice asked sending her a sly smile. She just shrugged as she thanked Chibs for opening the bottle.

"They didn't find anything in the room," she said, already knowing the outcome of the search.

"You're pretty sure of yourself," Juice teased. Taking a sip of her beer she nodded.

"Yeah I guess," she admitted. "I'm just good at my job."

"Oh shit!" the prospect exclaimed suddenly. "You're the cleaning lady."

Everyone in the group looked at him silently. Furrowing her eyebrows she tilted her head to the side slightly and shot him a questioning glare.

"Not exactly the words I would use to describe what I do," she replied after a second of awkward silence. Juice punched the prospect in the arm.

"Fuck man," the prospect swore, rubbing his shoulder. "Sorry, I just mean that you're the girl who cleaned out the garage yesterday."

She nodded and took another long swig from the bottle - two beers wasn't enough to deal with this shit.

"Yeah, I'm a forensic crime scene investigator by trade though," she told him.

"So you just clean up blood and shit for fun or something?" the prospect asked lamely, earning himself another punch from Juice.

"Or something," she answered.

"Ignore the boy lass," Chibs interrupted. "He's a bit soft in the head."

"No worries," she told the Irishman. "Most people don't understand what I do anyways."

"But it's pretty interesting stuff," Juice spoke up. She nodded in agreement.

"It can be," she admitted. "Sometimes it's sick as shit though."

"Wouldn't picture you being squeamish lass," Chibs stated looking at her curiously.

"Oh, I'm not," she told him. "Blood and guts everywhere doesn't phase me one bit, it's just that people can do some fucked up shit sometimes and it can get rough when you're called in to get samples of some kid scattered across the floor or a dog that's been torn to shit from fighting."

Each of the men around her nodded slightly in understanding, the club was no stranger to such horrors.

"So you're an animal person then?" Juice questioned. She nodded.

"Definitely," she told him. "If I ever settle down I plan on having a shit ton of animals around - they make a house a home and all that cliche shit."

Juice smiled at her answer and she thought she even saw Happy smirk slightly.

"Making friends I see," her brother teased as he came up next to her and nudged her shoulder slightly.

"Had to find something to do while you were taking your sweet ass time," she countered. He shrugged and spit out some lame excuse.

"Cargo make it back boy-o?" Chibs asked Ace handing him his bottle opener. Her brother nodded and took a drink of the amber liquid before getting back to business.

"Yeah, no problems," he replied. "But Clay wants to, uh, open it up right away. Needs me, Nat and Happy to meet him back at the clubhouse actually."

She was surprised to hear her name in there. She had been forewarned that something was going down tonight, but didn't think that she was going to be directly involved. Saying goodbye to the others she followed her brother and Happy back through the house and out to the street. Happy tossed her the helmet off his bike and she put it on quickly before climbing onto the seat behind her brother - the bike feeling familiar beneath her.

"Ready?" her brother called out over the roar of the engine. She squeezed his waist and braced herself as they shot down the street.

"Basement or garage?" her brother asked her as she swung off his bike once they reached the club. She ran through the potential pros and cons of each place before answering.

"Really depends on what you're planning to do," she responded honestly. Without any details it was hard to formulate a solid plan.

"That's up to Hap," her brother replied. "We need information from this guy, how we get it isn't important. If he cooperates and gives us what we need then we just remove his reaper and send him on his way, if he doesn't then we don't stop until he gives in or fades to black."

"Garage then," I answered after thinking through possible scenarios. "It will be easier to clean and drain the blood, and you won't have to haul supplies or a body up and down stairs - that shit gets old fast."

"I agree," Happy spoke up.

"I'll have the prospect gather your stuff Nat, you two have fun now," her brother said before turning to leave her with Happy. They didn't speak to each other as they opened up the garage cell at the end of the building - it was secure and spacious, but the metal walls would echo loudly if they weren't careful.

"Wait outside," Happy told her, pulling black gloves over his tattooed hands. She shrugged and went to follow him inside.

"Nothing you can do to that man is going to bother me," she told him. This wasn't her first rodeo. She had cleaned up plenty of vicious crime scenes before and didn't see the difference in whether or not she watched it happen. Blood was blood at the end of the day. But Happy put his arm across the entrance turning to face her.

"Wait outside," he repeated, his raspy voice putting extra emphasis on his instructions.

"Seriously?" she questioned, not happy about being shut out and having to sit out in the sun for god knows how long. His dark glare told her that he wasn't budging on the issue though. Sighing she gave in and turned away in a huff going over to one of the picnic tables nearby. Happy just closed the door behind him, locking it as he went. Sitting on the bench she tilted her head up at the sky, thankful that she at least had her sunglasses with her. What was she supposed to do while she was waiting?

* * *

Happy stormed out of the garage slamming the door behind him. He had been questioning and torturing the guy for nearly two hours and hadn't gotten shit from him. He was running out of shit to try that wouldn't kill the fucking guy. He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his jeans and lit one up to soothe his nerves.

The club needed this information and he didn't want to the one to let his family down. Inhaling the familiar nicotine he scanned the parking lot, only now remembering that he had left the forensics bitch outside. Squinting in the setting sun he spotted her laying across the top of a picnic table comfortably, looking over at him.

If he was being honest she was hot as shit. Her long hair, even if it was shaved on one side, coupled with her bold attitude made her attractive as fuck - her rack and tight ass didn't hurt either. She was a nice change of pace from the fake redheads and bottle blondes pumped with plastic that frequented the club.

She's a brother's sister though he reminded himself. That made everything different. Some brother's just had sluttly sisters and that was fine, but most of the time they were off limits to the club - or at least to the club members just looking for some pussy.

Taking another drag of his cig he sighed and started to walk over towards her, some of his anger already fading. Sitting down on the seat of the picnic bench he turned to look at her again. It was a damn shame she was related to Ace he thought as he watched her chest rise and fall highlighting her rib cage and flat stomach as she breathed. A damn fucking shame.

* * *

She didn't say anything as Happy sat down next to her and stared at her for a second. Noticing the blood on his hands and navy shirt she figured he had a lot on his mind and if it was any of her business then he would share. Not that he seemed like the guy who was big on sharing in the first place though.

"Can you patch up wounds?" he asked her suddenly. She pushed herself onto her elbows so she could see him better before answering.

"Basic stuff yeah," she told him. "Why? You get what you need already?"

He sighed and shook his head, "he's not talking. Can't have him dying before I'm through with him."

She pushed herself off the table completely, stretching slightly to work out the kinks in her back. The table was definitely not the most comfortable surface she had ever slept on. Noticing that he was about finished with his cigarette she started to move toward the garage.

"I'll see what I can do," she called out over her shoulder, noticing that he was getting up to follow her back inside.

Walking in she was unphased by the blood pooling on the floor. The man in question was chained to the two sides of the machine used to lift cars. Hearing two sets of footprints he looked up and smirked at her as she walked to stand in front of him.

"Is it your turn now baby?" he asked, spitting blood as he talked. Happy had done a number on him she noted, taking in the bruises, cuts, burns and stab wounds that scattered his body. She could close some of them up, maybe stitch a few here and there but overall there wasn't a lot that was going to help this man other than a fully staffed hospital.

"You better hope not," she replied absently still studying the man.

"Pain is fleeting baby, you can bite and scratch all you want but its just mind over matter," he said sneering at her now. Instantly a sick thought popped into her head, if he needed something a little more permanent to change his mind then she might have just the solution - literally and figuratively.

"Mind if I?" she turned and asked Happy, tilting her head in their prisoners direction. He shrugged, unsure of what some 5'6 girl was going to be able to accomplish that he hadn't already tried or thought of.

She made her way over to the table on the far side of the wall where all of her makeshift cleaning agents and materials had been laid out. Pulling on a pair of thick gloves she tied a bandana around her neck and made a mental note to pick up some medical masks from the hardware store later. This wouldn't be a first for her either. Not every charter had a strongman like Happy, and a few years ago she had learned to be creative quick when the Mayans jumped and took her brother hostage in Nevada.

She grabbed a jug of liquid, a gallon jug of water and some specialty made droppers and walked back to the man hanging in the room.

"You really should just tell him what he wants to know," she warned, knowing that what she was about to do was going to be far from pleasant.

"Pain is temporary," he told her.

"Your choice," she replied as she carefully pulled the bandana over her mouth and nose and picked up one of the jugs. "Last chance."

"Or what? You're going to pour fish tank water on me? Do your worst," he said eyeing the jug of Aquarium Fish Tank Stabilizer in her hand. "You should leave the threatening to your boyfriend babe. He's much scarier."

"I think you're going to come to regret that statement," she told him delicately dipping the pipette into the jug and extracting some of the clear fluid. Staring at his bare chest she settled for a spot just below his clavicle above one of the deep cuts Happy had made earlier. She ran the glass pipette across his skin gently letting the fluid drip and run down his chest. She knew it wouldn't take long for the sulfuric acid in the pH Adjust to start reacting.

"Fuck!" the man screamed in pain as the fluid started hissing as it came into contact with his skin and open wound. "What the fuck is that!"

"I think you'll find that this pain is going to be a little longer than temporary," she told him getting another small vial full of liquid and running it down his ribs on the other side of his chest. The liquid was hissing violently and bubbling as it ate away at his skin. Happy moved up closer to her to get a better look at what she was doing.

"Jesus, make it fucking stop," the man begged after a few minutes of the acid dripping and burning through his skin.

"You know what we need to make it stop," Happy told the man. He did sound a lot more intimidating than her she realized.

"Fine, fine," he conceded spewing out a set of location coordinates along with some numbers. All of which Happy wrote down instantly.

"Please get it to stop burning," he yelled out in tears at this point. Happy nodded and she grabbed the jug of water and dumped it over his chest. It would relieve some of the pain and wash the acid off, but the damage done was irreversible.

"Hope that was worth it," she said, speaking to both men.

"Leave him for now, we need to get this to Clay," Happy said moving towards the garage door waiting for me expectantly. Pulling off her gloves she tossed them into the trash and followed him out the door to the main part of the clubhouse. It seemed that the barbeque was over because all of the Sons were back she noticed.

"Get it?" Jax asked Happy as he and Clay came up to meet them as they walked in. Happy nodded and gave him the piece of paper he had scratched all the information onto.

"Good, good," Clay told him, looking over the information from over Jax's shoulder. "He still alive?"

Happy nodded again.

"Tig, go burn off his reaper and get one of the prospects to drop him off at the hospital steps when you're done," Clay ordered. "Grab a drink and come take a seat with us."

It took her a moment to realize that command was directed at her. Making her way to the bar she had Half Sac pour her a glass of spiced rum before making her way to the table in the center. She sat down in one of the empty seats across from Clay and waited for him to get done talking to Bobby and Jax.

"So I hear you have some rules?" Clay asked taking a sip of his whiskey. She nodded. Rules were just good for business and let her … associates … know what was expected of them.

"They're pretty straightforward," she reassured, having been through this before with other charters.

"First, you have to call me before the forensics team gets here, not try to call in favors after" she outlined. "In a few days I'll be a part of that forensics team that gets sent out and it will look suspicious as hell if I'm already here. Plus, I'll be working with a team and my help will be limited once I'm on their clock. So if you need help, call me first."

"Fine," Clay agreed.

"Second, I'll need full disclosure," she started.

"Not happening," Clay quickly interrupted. She sighed and took a sip of her drink before continuing.

"Full disclosure on anything to do with the crime scene, in order to make sure the club is covered I need to know what I'm cleaning up," she continued. "I don't care about how or why it happened, I just need to know what happened. If you leave something out, that increases the chances that I might too."

"Fine," Clay sighed understanding her reasoning. "Anything else sweetheart?"

"Yeah, actually," I responded smirking at him. "I get 25 percent of any cash coming in from whatever job I help on."

"Five," he argued.

"Twenty," she replied shaking her head.

"Ten and that's it," he told her seriously.

"Fifteen or you find yourself another top forensics analyst," she told him sitting back in her chair. She was well aware that most of the cops on the club's payroll only received a five percent - if that - kick back, but then again, she wasn't your average run of the mill cop.

"Fine," Clay said giving in after a moment of deliberation reaching out his hand.

"Good, and I'll need half up front," she said with a smile shaking his hand. Clay laughed and shook his head.

"Fucking highway robbery," he complained. "Maybe we should just fucking patch you in and have you be the club negotiator."

"It would probably save you some money," she joked finishing her drink. "Now if you don't mind I'm going to go find my brother."

* * *

"Everything go alright?" Ace asked as he walked up to join Juice and Happy outside.

"Yeah," Happy responded taking a drag of the joint Juice had just rolled. He had decided to not go into details, if his sister wanted him to know then she could tell him herself.

"You know, if you ever want to drop off your sister with me for a couple hours…" Juice suggested with his trademark lopsided grin. Ace rolled his eyes and Happy stayed quiet.

"Try if you want brother," Ace said defeatedly, it seemed there was no way he was going to keep the club from going after his sister after all. "But Nat is the kind of girl who is just going to let you hit it and quit it man."

"She looking to be someone's old lady?" Juice asked, actually considering the thought for a moment. Natalie was gorgeous and intelligent, and if he was going to settle down he wanted it to be with a girl like that not some used up croweater.

"Naw, I don't think she's ready to settle down yet. She still moves around a lot and hasn't really had a chance to set down roots anywhere" Aced answered knowing his sister would want to be somewhere stable before starting anything serious. "She's just not going to be an easy lay though."

Both Juice and Happy thought over what he had told them. Juice was determined to spend some more time with Natalie, something just felt right to him and he wanted to explore that. Happy on the other hand wasn't sure if he could commit to anyone himself, but with her brother's sign off he was interested to see if he could at least give her a reason to stick around. Especially after today. 

* * *

**This will probably be the length of every chapter - give or take a few - from here on out. **

**Please continue to _review/favorite/follow_! Right now I'm aiming for a JuiceXOCXHappy showdown but let me know what you guys think! We'll also be seeing a little more of Juice in the upcoming chapters! **


	3. Burning Sensation

"Austin why don't you just wait outside?" she asked, breathing slowly in an attempt to regulate her anger. For a five year "experienced" veteran investigator he sure was shit at his job.

"What? Why?" the man in question asked.

"Because you're walking through the vic's blood and contaminating my god damn crime scene thats why," she replied, shooting him a glare from across the room. This was only her first week on the job and she was already at her wits end with the team they had assigned to her. They were all locals who were never given any real training and seemed to be more adept at compromising evidence than preserving it. How they got anything done was a mystery to her.

"Are you always such a bitch?" Austin huffed under his breath. Unfortunately not quietly enough. She looked up at him from her spot on the floor where she had been photographing blood splatter.

"Yes, but only because you insist on being such an idiot all the time," she spat back. This was how her entire week had gone so far. She spent equal time dealing with cases and familiarizing herself with the local labs and equal parts keeping her assigned coworkers from touching anything.

"Deputy Chief Hale, you're a welcome distraction, what brings you to my crime scene?" she asked moving to greet him at the doorway. At least he had sense enough to not trek through the blood bath.

"David, please," he told her, scanning the room with clinical precision. She had met him a few days ago, since one of the labs connected to the the police department, and had decided she liked the man. She knew that he and the Sons didn't quite see eye to eye, but for now that wasn't her concern. She smiled up at the handsome deputy waiting for him to tell her why he was here - she hadn't released the crime scene over to the police yet.

"I figured you would be about done here and I thought I would stop by and get your take on things," he told her smiling back at her slightly.

"I would have the report on your desk in a couple hours you know?" she teased turning back to the crime scene.

"Thought I would save you the trip," he responded effortlessly. He was smooth, she would give him that.

"Well I hate to break it to ya chief, but so far my results are inconclusive," she told him as she photographed another marked tag in the room, happy to see that it was the last one.

"Why's that? Seems kind of cut and dry to me," he said, his brow furrowing ever so slightly.

"Blood spatter isn't consistent with suicide," she replied pointing to the body leaning back on the office desk chair. "I picked up some trace amounts of powder as well from the desk, which makes me assume drugs but I won't know for sure until I get it back to the lab."

"You walk in to a house to find a man holding a gun with his brain blown out and jump straight to homicide?" Austin questioned still standing uselessly in the middle of the room.

"I didn't jump straight to anything, the evidence so far just isn't pointing to suicide," she replied trying to keep her tone even. She didn't want to be seen arguing in front of the deputy, it was bad business.

"You wanted my initial report and that's it," she said looking at Hale this time. "I've collected samples of everything in the room and took some DNA from the victim as well as some particles from underneath his fingernails - once I have everything analyzed I'll let you know."

"That will work, quick question though," Hale asked, stopping her as she moved out of the room.

"Sure, shoot," she replied stopping beside him in the doorway. Hale shot a quick look back to the dead body and the gun still gripped in his hand.

"Too soon?" she joked. She knew people often got queasy at crime scenes, but she wasn't one of them. He just shook his head and focused back on her.

"Why are there bloody footprints all over the room?" he asked. She rolled her eyes and motioned over to Austin.

"Ask Rembrandt there," she told him, leaning in to whisper loudly. "I don't know where you find these guys, but I would want a refund."

Hale laughed slightly causing Austin to glare coldly at both of them. Shrugging it off she turned to leave taking off her snap-back "forensics" hat and snapping it to her belt loop on her hip.

"Austin can take all the samples back, that should be easy enough that even he can't screw them up, which makes the crime scene all yours deputy," she called out over her shoulder as she exited the residential home. Since he had unofficially released her from writing a report she was going to take the rest of the day off seeing as how it would take Austin at least that long to get everything back to the lab and organized. After the second day he and the others would know better than to test or analyze any of the samples, she had taken it upon herself to see to it.

"If you want something done right, do it yourself," she muttered to no one in particular as she jumped into her vehicle. She started the engine up and groaned when the check engine symbol lit up on her dashboard. She had been ignoring it for a couple days already so with a quick decision turned to drive to TM instead of taking the highway back up to the shitty hotel she was still staying at.

She was only ten minutes away when her engine started smoking blocking her view.

"Shit!" she cursed loudly pulling over slowly. She left all the mechanic shit to her brother, but she was pretty sure the smoke meant she was fucked. She popped the hood and she moved back immediately cursing her luck as the steam met her outreached arms. It wasn't hot enough to hurt her but enough to put her already frazzled nerves over the edge.

"Stupid pile of crap," she muttered pulling her cellphone from her back pocket. "Pick up asshole."

The phone kept ringing and eventually forwarded her to her brother's voicemail. She groaned and ended the call, she might as well train a pigeon to deliver messages to him - he would get it quicker.

The only other two Charming locals numbers she had in her phone were Hales, who was working back at the crime scene and probably wouldn't answer, and Austins which was a cold shot in hell.

"Guess I can just do what other normal people do," she mused googling the number to TM. She punched in the number and waited for someone to answer, if she was lucky her brother would be around and could come pick her up.

"Teller-Morrow this is Juice how can I help you?" a voice answered after the fourth ring.

"Hey is my brother there?" she asked turning to sit on her bumper.

"Depends, who's your brother?" he replied making her roll her eyes.

"Ace," she told him. What kind of shop didn't have caller ID?

"Oh hey Nat!" Juice said his voice picking up a little bit. "He's actually not around right now, I think he and some of the other nomads are out making a day run."

Well that would explain why he didn't answer his phone she thought to herself.

"Well shit," she groaned not really meaning to say it out loud.

"Something wrong?" Juice asked.

"My PoS car decided to break down and I'm stranded," she told him frustrated with how out of her control everything was. She grew up having to be independent, so asking anyone other than her brother for help was something out of her comfort zone.

"Well you're in luck," Juice replied. She could almost see that stupid lopsided smile of his and some of her anger faded away at the thought.

"Why's that?" she asked, playing along with whatever he was up to.

"Well you just happened to call a mechanic shop AND I happen to be a mechanic," he said laughing over the phone. "Where you at?"

She stood up and looked around for street signs but didn't see any right away. She was just on a long flat road next to some small vintage stores. She told Juice as much and apparently that was a good enough description for him.

"Give me ten minutes," he told her, she could hear the roar of the tow truck in the background. Hanging up she took a seat on her bumper again. Wasn't much to do now but wait.

After a few minutes she was already bored. Shrugging off her forensics windbreaker, she set it inside the cab before coming back to look over the engine. How hard could working on a car be she thought.

"I mean, if Ace can do it…" she mumbled to herself as she identified the source of the steam. It had stopped once she pulled over but it was clear to see where it had rusted the metal over her thermostat. Thinking her radiator fluid was just low she reached to pull off the top, she had some antifreeze in the back she could add to it while she was waiting, but she immediately regreted her decision.

"Aw fuck," she yelled pulling her hand to her chest. She clenched her eyes shut waiting for the pain to go away but her hand wouldn't stop burning. She had no idea that it would be so hot still.

"Nat are you okay?" Juice called out as he stepped out of the tow truck. She hadn't even heard him pull up beside her. The prospect stepped out and walked over to her as well.

"Nat?" Juice questioned again as he came to stand in front of her. She focused on her breathing trying to push the pain shooting up her arm away.

"Yeah I'm fine," she hissed. "I just touched something I shouldn't have."

"Oh shit!" Juice exclaimed worried now that he knew she was hurt. "Let me see."

She held out her arm to show him and grimaced when she finally saw the damage for herself. Her entire hand was red, but her fingers and palm were the worse.

"Prospect nearly has your truck up on the bed, come on let's get you back to the shop," he said as he led her to the passenger side door. "We can have Chibs look at it when we get there, he'll know what to do. I know we have a first aid kit somewhere around the shop too."

She nodded and used her good hand to pull herself onto the bench seat. She slid over so she was sitting in the middle and cradled her hand in her lap trying not to let anything touch the tender areas.

Juice climbed in next to her and shot her a sad smile.

"It looks like the thermostat is bad," the prospect said as he climbed into the driver's seat. "The whole radiator blew."

She looked over to Juice for an extended explanation, "what does that mean exactly?"

"It's bad, but not unfixable," he told her reassuringly. "We'll get ya taken care of and then worry about the car though alright?"

She nodded and relaxed against the seat. She realized that she was happy it had been Juice who had picked up the phone, he had kept her from flipping out. If her brother would have come and seen her hand they would both be yelling and fussing.

In no time at all they came to a stop in the TM parking lot.

"My lady," Juice joked as he opened the passenger door holding it open for her with his hand extended to help her down. She laughed and shook her hand - so much for tough badass biker she thought.

She thanked him anyways and hopped out of the truck.

"Come on, let's go find Chibs," Juice said as he led her over to the clubhouse. The day run must have been pretty important she realized, there were only a few Sons still left in Charming.

"Chibs!" Juice called out, pulling the Scots attention away from Tig at the bar.

"Yes boy-o?" he replied, smiling when he saw her behind him. "Oi Natty what are you doin followin this runt around?"

"She hurt her hand man, can you take a look at it?" Juice asked deciding to ignore Chibs teasing for the moment. At the mention of her injury Chibs smile disappeared and he stood up from the barstool and made his way over to them.

"What's wrong lass?" he asked scanning her over quickly. She just held out her hand carefully looking down at her feet as she waited for his response.

"Shite," Chib's cursed. "What happened?"

"Radiator blew, she tried to grab the cap before it cooled," Juice explained for her sensing her discomfort.

"Alright, well nothing a little burn cream and disinfectant won't cure," Chibs reassured. She scrunched her nose a bit and sent him a doubtful stare. Couldn't she just risk infection and not burn the shit out of her already burned hand?

"Come on lass," Chibs said ignoring her silent protest. He turned and started to walk down the hallway where she knew all of their dorms were. She looked at Juice momentarily and he just nodded and smiled at her, motioning with his head that she should follow. Sighing she quickly fell into step behind the Scot.

Despite her involvement with the Sons and her side jobs, she had managed to remain mostly uninjured over the years. She was either lucky enough to never get hurt, or for her brother to be there to save her every time she was about to. Thinking of her brother made her queasy - he was going to be pissed.

"Sit down, I'll grab the first aid kit," Chibs directed, moving off into the bathroom connected to his room. She looked around before taking a seat at the edge of his bed. It was a modest sized room, with not much more than a bed, a dresser and bookshelf in it but it was well kept and homey feeling.

"Here we go," Chibs said as he walked back into the room with a small red plastic first aid kit in his hands. Sitting beside her he grabbed a tube of alcohol solution and dabbed some on wet cloth. He sent her an apologetic look before holding her hand up and dabbing it on her burns.

She groaned loudly but tried her best not to move knowing that it had to be done. Once he was satisfied it was cleaned thoroughly he dabbed some burn ointment on her palm and fingers - it didn't burn quite as much but it was still uncomfortable.

"You took that better than most of the brothers here would," Chibs joked as he finished wrapping her hand. He had wrapped it in sections so her palm and each finger were individually wrapped so she could still move her hand if she wanted to - not that she did with the heat still throbbing up her arm.

"Thanks Chibs," she told him earnestly, grateful that he had been both gentle and quick about it.

"No problem," he told her packing up the supplies he had just used. "Now remember to keep it clean and wrapped for the next couple days, try not to get it wet and if gets any worse seek a medical professional and all that shite."

She laughed and nodded, "of course, of course."

Once he had put the kit back into the bathroom they both walked back into the clubhouse which was still virtually empty. Juice was still there though and pushed his seat out the moment he saw her walk back in.

"You alright?" he asked meeting her eyes.

She smiled at him brightly, "yeah, he thinks I'll live."

"Well that's good to know," he teased smiling wide now as well. "Place would sure be a lot uglier without you around."

At his open compliment she blushed slightly. Usually her brother kept other Sons away from flirting with her, but then again her brother wasn't here right now.

"Well glad I'm good for something," she quipped back. "How's my truck looking?"

"Not bad, but not great," he replied honestly. "The steam rusted a few parts in the engine so we had to replace those, and we already put in a new thermostat. But we'll have to replace the whole radiator as well and that will take a day or two to get in."

She sighed and ran her good hand through her hair.

"Well, it is what it is," she told him. She would have to take a taxi to work for the next couple days, or maybe see if Hale would let her borrow one of the city's work vehicles.

"No big freakout?" Juice asked amazed. "No crying or bitching?"

"I'm not really a crier," she said. She heard Tig mumble "that's a shame" behind her and she threw her middle finger up at him not breaking her gaze with Juice.

"And why would I bitch at you?" she continued. "Without you, I would still be stuck on the side of the road with a blistered hand."

"Awh come on, I would have picked you up," Tig said looking at her with a smirk. Behind his creepy comments and pervy preferences she had a hunch that he was a generally good guy and that all the sarcastic shit he talked was just a front, but she played along anyways.

"Yeah and who knows where I would have ended up, no thanks," she replied shaking her head as Juice and Chibs laughed.

"You should give us a shot baby," Tig teased as he winked at her. "Could end up somewhere good."

"Yeah…. I'll pass," she told him with a sideways grin. "I can't even imagine the places you've been."

"I like sightseeing," he defended.

"Is that what they're calling it nowadays?" she asked playfully. Tig just shrugged and smiled.

She turned back to Juice who was watching her with an amused smile and a curious glint in his eyes.

"Can we go take a look at my car?" she asked. "I want to see how much damage I actually did."

"Sure," he said motioning for her to lead the way. She said her goodbyes to Chibs and Tig before stepping out into the garage where her car was parked with its hood propped open.

Walking to the front bumber she peered into the engine and sighed as she spotted all the new shiny pieces - those were going to cost her a small fortune when this was all said and done.

"Could have been worse," Juice offered as lea crossed his arms and leaned his back against the truck. "Could have been your transmission or something, that would have basically totalled you car out."

"That's true," she conceded.

"And lucky for you, you have an amazing certified mechanic who knows how to take care of problems like this," Juice joked puffing his chest out slightly

She pretended to look confused for a second and looked over both her shoulders, "where?"

"Hey now," Juice replied, bringing one of his hands to his chest in mock insult. "That hurt a little bit."

"Just calling it how I see it," she answered shrugging her shoulders slightly. "Didn't prospect do all the work anyways?"

She had doubted that he had left while Chibs was treating her hand, and her suspicion was confirmed when Juice just shrugged.

"Who do you think taught him all he knows?" he asked smiling down at her.

She rolled her eyes again, enjoying their playful banter. She was finding that Juice was easy to talk to with his easy going personality. And that smile of his was contagious as all get out.

"Do you know when my brother will be back?" she asked, changing the subject. She would have to bum a ride off him to get home but she wasn't looking forward to his reaction when he saw her.

"I think that's them now," Juice replied nodding over to the entrance gates where a group of bikes were pulling in. She moved over to the passenger door and quickly grabbed her windbreaker while Juice looked at her curiously. She ignored him though and shoved her wrapped hand into the jacket pocket as her brother and a group of the other nomads walked up.

"What happened Natty?" Pope called out from beside her brother. She moved back to the front of the car sheepishly.

"Radiator blew?" she responded shrugging her shoulders. She looked at her brother and frowned, "Sorry?"

Juice and Pope went quiet around her, along with Happy and two other nomads who they had been talking to.

Ace sighed and rolled his neck before answering her.

"It's alright Nat," he told her. "Shit happens. I'll get it taken care of for you."

"Thanks, Juice and one of the prospects have already started working on it," she replied.

"Yeah I just got done ordering the radiator we need, should be here in the next two days," the young prospect called out as he exited the main office. Walking up to the group he greeted everyone before turning back to her.

"How's your hand holding up?" he asked her innocently. She froze and cursed her luck for the second time that day. Her brother wouldn't care about her car, but her hurting herself was a sure thing to rile his temper.

"You're hand? What's he talking about Nat?" her brother asked seriously, narrowing his eyes at her slightly. She looked around the group for a distraction but got no help. Juice flinched slightly sensing that this wasn't about to go well, while the rest of the nomads just waited for her answer.

"It's nothing, just a small scratch," she replied trying to play it off.

"Oh come on, it's nothing to be embarrassed by," the prospect spoke up. She turned and glared at him but he didn't seem to get the message. "She grabbed on to the radiator lid while it was still hot and burnt her hand, but Chibs got her all patched up and she should be good in a couple days."

If looks could kill the prospect would be dead, but then again so would she with how her brother was looking at her. He took a step towards her backing her into the bumper of her own car.

"Let me see," he demanded as he looked down at her furiously.

"Really, it's not that big of a deal," she tried to explain but he cut her off.

"Let me see Natalie," he repeated not taking his eyes off of her. Sighing she pulled her hand out of her jacket, wincing slightly as it caught the edge of one of her fingers.

"How bad is it?" he asked turning to look at Juice.

Juice looked torn but shrugged as he looked back at her brother, "moderately?"

Growling her brother reached behind her and slammed the hood of her truck down harshly. She jumped slightly and looked down to her shoes.

"What the fuck Natalie?" her brother yelled clenching his hands tightly on the hood.

"Hey man, it's not that bad," Juice said taking a small step forward to defuse the situation.

"This doesn't concern you now," Ace said sparing only a fleeting glare. When her brother was angry he could be downright terrifying, she had been around him enough to know - though she usually wasn't on the receiving end of his anger. "In fact you should all go inside and let Clay know how the run went, I need to speak to my sister alone for a minute."

The rest of the nomads grumbled but did as he suggested. Only Juice and Happy remained outside, though they had grabbed a beer from the office cooler and were seated a work bench a few feet away.

"I didn't want to upset you, I knew it would just make you mad," she told him as he backed away from her.

"Well I'm mad now, so that didn't work out to well for you did it?" he asked crossing his arms over his cut.

"No," she replied honestly.

"And you weren't even going to fucking tell me at all were you?" he questioned, anger radiating off of him. She shook her head in response.

"Goddamn it Nat," he groaned. "What the fuck am I going to do with you?"

She shrugged letting him vent out his frustration. She knew the biggest reasons he was angry was because he blamed himself for letting her get hurt - he always did. She knew better to think that he would hurt her, and had found over the years that letting him yell and vent was the best and quickest ways to deal with his rage.

"If you pull this shit again and try to lie to me about you being hurt, I swear to God I'm going to send you to the most remote fucking nunnery I can find and leave you there," he threatened. "In the middle of fucking Kansas or some shit where you can't do shit but pray for your sins and bake in that black robe."

"Habit," she corrected, smiling slightly. When her brother threatened brothers or just about anyone else it was all about violence, torture and the cruel shit he would do to them; but when he threatened her it was always to send her to Kansas or to Africa on a missionary trip where she could spend some time in "self-reflection."

Her brother stopped his rant and cocked his head to the side.

"The black robe, it's called a habit," she told him noting his confusion. He said nothing as he just stood there staring at her like she had grown a third head.

"You're going to be the death of me," he decided nodding to himself.

"God help me," he said to no one in particular as he turned and walked into the Clubhouse. Juice sent her a worried glance before following her brother inside, no doubt to convince him that he shouldn't be so angry at her.

"That was the strangest fucking family fight I've ever seen," Happy's raspy voice called out from the workbench he was still leaning against. She laughed and walked over closer to him.

"Yeah, well we're a pretty strange fucking family," she replied smiling. She and her brother would be fine by tomorrow, she knew that after a couple beers and some bitching that he would be back to normal in no time.

"He just worries about me," she explained. "If you thought that was bad you should have seen him the time I slipped on ice and ripped a tendon in my knee - the neighbors thought he was going to kill me he was so angry and they actually called the cops. He was still yelling at me when the showed up, hadn't even helped me up yet."

Happy had a small amused grin on his face as she continued her story, "He wouldn't let it go for an entire week, and even after that he wouldn't let me go out by myself for another two. That was years ago and still to this day when it snows he has a fucking field day with it."

"He's a good brother," Happy said simply, taking a swig of his beer.

She nodded thinking about all the shit they had gotten into over the years, "Yeah, he really is."

She wasn't sure what to say next, Happy didn't really come off as the kind of guy who enjoys small talk. Luckily she didn't have to worry over it long before Jax stuck his head out of the clubhouse door and called out to them.

"Darlin, mind coming in for a sec?" he asked. "Club's got a proposition for ya."

She nodded and looked over at Happy who shrugged slightly. Well he was going to be no help she concluded.

"What can I do for you boys?" she asked as she walked in, noting that all the key members of the club were back in house again.

"You shouldn't make such broad offers baby," Tig teased from his barstool, the same one he had been sitting on earlier. "Some of us might get the wrong idea."

"Down boy," Clay said as he slapped his hand against Tigs shoulder.

"We're going on a field trip tomorrow evening and want to know if you'd like to tag a long," Clay asked.

"Sure," she replied easily, she was going to need the money to fix her car anyways. "What do you need from me?"

"We need you to collect whatever forensic shit you can find and see if you can tell us where our friends might have run off to," Clay explained. "Ace says you've pulled Houdini shit like that before."

She clenched her jaw, this wasn't exactly her strong suit but she appreciated a good challenge.

"That's a little harder to do, it all matters if they left any clues in the first place," she told him honestly. "I'm more than willing to do it, but I can't promise I'll find anything, there's too many variables."

"But if there are clues?" a man asked from behind Clay. Opie she remembered, Jax had introduced them at the party.

"If there are clues I'll find them," she assured. "But being able to give you a specific location of where they've gone or where they've been will be difficult, most likely I'll only be able to narrow it down to a specific zone."

"That's more than we have now," Jax said looking back and forth between Opie and Clay.

"Yeah," Clay agreed after thinking it over. "Be ready to go tomorrow evening at six, we'll go in as soon as our friends leave."

Leave? She must have looked as confused as she looked because Jax spoke up after glancing over at her.

"We can't tail them, it's too risky," he told her. "And they have an advantage of where they're at now so we can't go in while they're there. We're going to have to slip in while they're out, get what we need and get out before they get back."

"Pack light, got it," she said already making a mental list of everything she would need.

"As payment we'll waive the fee of fixing your truck," Clay added. How generous she thought, she walked right into that one. "IF you are able to give us some good information, then there might be a little extra on the side for you as well."

She nodded, "sounds fair to me. But I'll need something else too."

"What's that?" Clay asked raising one of his grey eyebrows.

She smirked and sent him the most charming grin she could muster, "I'll need someone to give me a ride back to the motel."

She laughed as a few hands shot up to volunteer, looking over she amended her previous request, "Someone who isn't Tig."

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**Please continue to _review_/favorite/follow! **


	4. Trouble Brewing

"Must be bad if they had to call you in to work on it," I teased as I walked up besides Lowell. Ace had pointed him out to her before, he was apparently one of the best mechanics at the shop. He was also one of the few employees at TM that weren't patched in, or looking to be.

"Nothing to worry about," Lowell replied, flashing her an uneasy smile as he wiped his hands off on his already stained jeans.

"Don't get cleaned up for me," she said, trying to ease his nerves. Mechanic or not, the man was figidity. He stopped picking at the dirt beneath his nails and lowered his hands.

"Who's around?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Uhm, Tig, Juice, Happy, Bobby and Jax are inside the clubhouse I think," he replied. "Everyone else is out."

"Hm, leave it to my brother to disappear when ya need him," Natalie mumbled to herself. "Thanks anyways Lowell, sorry to bother ya."

He stuttered over a goodbye as she walked away, but she didn't pay it much attention. Checking her phone screen for the time she sighed as she made her way over the clubhouse. She was here earlier than she was supposed to be, but when she got off work sooner than expected it was either show up at TM or go back and sit in her crappy motel. The choice was an easy one.

Opening the door to the club, she was happy that Jas was the first one she ran into.

"Hey darlin," he greeted smoothly. "Six already?"

"Not quite, got off early and figured it was easier to get the taxi to take me here than all the way back up to the motel," she told him honestly.

"Cheaper too," he offered with a laugh. "I gotta go make a call but grab a beer and kick back, you're more than welcome to hang out here for a bit."

"Thanks," she said, moving towards the bar to do exactly what he had suggested. A cold beer was a cold beer, and she was never one to refuse alcohol - especially when it was free. Looking at her options she grabbed a yellow-belly bottle and made her way from behind the bar.

"Nat!"

She looked around and spotted a group of the guys lounging in one of the booths as Tig casually took shots on the pool table. Juice had been the one who called out to her and was currently waving her over - smiling at his eagerness she made her way towards them.

"Hey Juice," she greeted warmly, before looking around the table and greeting the others as well. "Chibs. Happy."

"Always good to see ya lass," Chibs replied, taking a drink of the amber liquid in his glass. Happy said nothing but gave her a slight nod in recognition.

"Sit!" Juice offered, scooting in slightly so she would have some room. "You're still going with us tonight right?"

Nat nodded, taking a drink of her beer.

"As far as I know," she told him. No one had mentioned anything different to her yet, and she already had her brother pick up a few supplies for the excursion.

"Nervous?" he asked. She shook her head, she had stopped getting nervous years ago.

"No, I don't usually go into situations so blind, but it's nothing I can't handle," she told him. Usually she knew exactly what she was walking into, Ace held nothing back from her. But this wasn't a job for her brother, it was a job for the MC so she only got whatever Clay deemed necessary and so far it wasn't much.

"We'll raid the warehouse, you look for evidence and other sciency shit," Jax told her, pulling up a chair from a nearby table and joining their conversation.

"Like I said, nothing I can't handle," she repeated with a small smirk. While she was more comfortable collecting samples from a crime scene, evidence was evidence whether or not there was blood or a body.

"Good," Jax answered. "Ace and a few others are out there now scouting the place, he'll call in when it looks like they're getting ready to head out. We'll need to time this just right."

She wanted to sigh, but kept it to herself. Time was going to be an issue tonight, that was already established. The only thing she hated more than people contaminating her evidence though, was someone rushing her to collect it. Hurrying led to errors, which led to court cases being thrown out and the lab being blamed for it. She was very good at her job, and she wasn't ever going to give anyone a chance to say otherwise - therefore no one rushed her.

"Person, place, or thing?" she asked, looking at Jax as she set her now half empty beer down.

"What do you mean?" he questioned, not following.

"What am I looking for specifically," she explained. "A person, place, or thing?"

Depending on their objective, she would have to organize her search patterns tonight. Without a solid time slot, she would have to focus on objects that would be the most likely to give her the best data, and that all depended on what they were looking for. She knew Clay and the club were still hesitant on giving her all the details of their operation, but she would need at least the basics if they expected decent results from her.

"A place and a person," Jax replied after a moment. Saying nothing else she just nodded and went back to her drink - that would be enough for her to go off of for now.

"Baby," Tig called out to her, breaking the tension of the previous conversation. "I need another beer, be a doll."

Natalie scoffed and rolled her eyes, "do I look like a sweetbutt to you?"

Tig paused and looked over at her as he rested on the cue stick.

"Well, if you lost the jacket, pulled down your shirt and maybe rolled it up a little you wouldn't be too far off," he told her with a smirk.

"Yeah, well until I do that get your own beer, baby," she replied matching his stare. After realizing she wasn't going to budge he groaned and walked over to the bar himself.

"Oh hey Tig," she called out checkley. "While you're over there, could you grab an extra one? I'm almost out too."

"Fuck you," Tig yelled back.

"Make that two extras would ya?" Juice added, shooting her a shit eating grin.

"And a scotch," Chibs added.

"Fuck you all," Tig grumbled as he walked back over to the table with three beers and a bottle of dark liquid.

Grabbing the beers from his hands, she handed one over to Juice and popped the cap off her own.

"You know, if you lost the cut and pulled your shirt down a little bit … you'd make a pretty decent sweetbutt," Happy teased, speaking up for the first time since Nat had came in. Everyone at the table burst into laughter as Happy just ignored the death glare Tig was shooting his way.

They spent the next half an hour joking around with each other and idly chatting before Jax looked down at his buzzing phone and answered it with a straight face.

"We clear?" he asked the person on the other end. "Good. We're on our way."

Pushing up from his chair he adjusted his pants and looked at everyone, "that was Ace, just got the all clear. Let's head out."

Sliding out of the booth she followed Jax and Tig out the door and over to the line of bikes near the shop. She paused when she realized that her brother would still have her helmet with him.

"Here," Hap rasped, handing her the item in question. She shoot him a confused look but he just turned back to his bike.

"Ace dropped it off earlier once he realized you wouldn't be riding up with him," Juice offered, noticing her confusion.

"Alright, well who am I riding up with?" she asked, tying her hair back and fitting her helmet on snugly.

"You can ride …" Juice started before he was interrupted by an impatient looking Happy.

"Get on," he ordered, motioning to the back of his bike slightly. Guess that settled that, she thought to herself. She zipped up her dark forest green jacket completely and climbed on behind him, not feeling as out of place as she had the first time she had ridden with him. Getting adjusted she wrapped her arms around him loosely before he shot out of the parking lot following Jax and the others.

She had tried to keep tabs on where they were headed for the first part of the drive, but after turning into the canyon and going down odd back roads she had given up. She trusted that they knew where they were going, but she would have felt better if she knew too.

Hap and Juice made up the end of the pack, riding side by side the whole way. She noticed occasionally the mohawked man would glance over at her and give her a warm smile, as if he was checking up on her and making sure she wasn't about to fall off. It was sweet she thought, but almost made the ride seem more like a joy ride than an actual mission.

Twenty minutes later they were pulling onto a dirt shoulder where she could just barely see other familiar looking bikes parked in the foliage. This must be it she thought to herself as she waited for the man in front of her to give her the all clear to hop off. Once he did she swung off and unclasped her helmet, hanging it on her brothers bike as she grabbed the plain black backpack he had left waiting on it - definitely her supplies. She looked through it quickly, familiarizing herself with its contents and where he had put everything - she was silently thankful that her brother was almost as meticulous as she was when it came to organizing things.

"All good?" Jax asked, appearing beside her. She nodded and slung the bag onto her shoulders, adjusting the tightness of the straps so she could shrug it on and off.

"Alright, it's just over that hill," he said, nodding behind him to the small slope. "Juice, you'll need to get us in. From there, me, Nat, and Hap will take a look around. You two will need to keep an eye out signal at the first sign of them heading back our way."

Chibs and Tig nodded and did a quick game of rock-paper-scissors to see who would have to stay and keep watch on the bikes. With a content grin Chibs made his way through the brush with the rest of the group to approach the warehouse.

"Stay close alright?" Jax said, glancing over at her as they made their trek. She nodded in response, she didn't need to be told twice.

It wasn't long until they ran into Ace and Half Sac, who were posted up watching the warehouse from their spot hidden in the brush.

"They just left," Ace confirmed, his eyes resting on his sister as everyone approached.

"Good, lets get in and get out then, we don't know how long we'll have," Jax replied, motioning for Juice to go ahead and start working on the outer security of the building. There were a few cameras mounted to the front of the warehouse, obviously to keep an eye on who was coming and going but other than that and the digital keypad, there wasn't much keeping them out.

After a few seconds of tinkering, Juice gave them the all clear as he swung the door open. Wasting no time, Jax and Hap started moving in with Nat close behind them. Ace grabbed her shoulder as she walked past for a brief second, saying all he needed to with one look.

Be careful, don't do anything stupid, stay close to the others, and most importantly of all the typically big brother messages: if you get hurt hope it kills you, because if it doesn't I will. Normal supportive sibling stuff. She nodded and sent him a confident smile, she knew how this went.

The inside of the building was pitch black, with the only light coming from the computer screen and TV monitors Juice was currently working on. Reaching into her backpack she pulled out a pair of black latex gloves and flashlight. Shining her light around the room she tried to make a mental map of the place quickly. Hallway and rooms to the left, garage ports to the right - pretty simple.

Remembering that Jax had told her places and people, she moved towards the blacked out Escalade parked near one of the garage doors. Grabbing small plastic baggies and a tweezers she started pulling out gravel from the tires, making sure to alternate sides and get an assorted sample. If she was lucky, it wouldn't all be from the local area and might give her a broad indicator of where the car had been recently.

With no time to sit and write out notes, she quickly memorized the make and model of the car, along with the license plate number before moving towards the hallway on the other side of the building.

The others were absorbed in work of their own she noticed. Juice was typing away on the computer, undoubtedly erasing all the video footage of them and putting a tracker bug on the hard drive like he suggested the day before. Jax was shifting through paperwork on a nearby desk and Happy wasn't far from him, inventorying items that were stacked in the large black cabinets near the desk - it was too dark for her to see clearly what they were.

Focusing back to the task on hand she made her way room by room, collecting samples as she saw fit. There wasn't much to go on. A few rooms filled with cots, a trashed bathroom that she glanced over but didn't dare swab and a sort of recreational lounge area. Sighing she continued through the hallway stopping when she got to a locked door.

That's strange she thought, crouching down to get eye level with the lock. None of the other doors had even had a lock on them, she wondered what was special about this one in particular. Pulling a bobby pin from her hair she twisted it until she created her own makeshift lock pick and jimmied the door open. After a satisfying click she stood back up and slowly pushed the door open.

On edge and ready to react or run if needed she pushed the door open and scanned the room quickly. She only relaxed when she realized that it was empty. Scanning her light across the room again, she inhaled sharply when the beam stopped on a group of children's toys laying in the center of the room.

With no windows and a locked door, this was no place for a kid she thought to herself as she quickly bagged one of the smaller toys and stored it in her backpack. A spark of anxiety ran through her when she immediately correlated the mysterious "person" she was looking for to the kids room, but she pushed the thought aside. Facts before assumption she reminded herself.

She collected a few hair samples from the pillow she found on the small single bed in the corner of the room before she was interrupted by Happy.

"Time to go," he rasped, taking a moment to look around the room for himself.

"This have something to do with the who that you're looking for?" she asked quietly as she moved to exit the room, making sure to lock the door behind her.

"Yes," he responded shortly, though she was amazed he responded at all. She hadn't expected an answer.

As they made their way back to the Jax and Juice they passed by a laundry room she hadn't reached yet. Stopping briefly she looked through the stacks and stacks of dirty clothes before reaching out to grab one item in particular.

"What are you doing?" Happy asked impatiently. "We need to go. Now."

"I know," she replied, pulling her backpack in front of her to stuff the dirty sheet into the large pocket. It had the same designs as the pillowcase in the kid's room.

Happy huffed and grabbed her wrist loosely and tugged her along after him down the hall. Once they reached the main area again she realized why he was in a hurry, she could see lights reflecting off the wall from the headlights off approaching vehicles - they were cutting it really close.

Moving with a new sense of urgency she slipped out the back entrance with Happy, to find the other two men waiting for them behind a dumpster. Juice closed the door quietly and reset the alarms from his phone, giving everyone a thumbs up when it cleared.

They moved along the back wall quietly, making sure to stay out of view of the windows. She had already cut the power to her flashlight and was now just holding onto it tightly as they timed their moves with the voices around them. They were almost in the clear, they just had to make it back into the tree line and make the trek back to their bikes - there was only a fifteen foot gap in between them and the trees now.

Juice was still in the lead and peaked around the corner of the building carefully before motioning for Jax to make a run for it.

Juice went next, cursing in a loud whisper as he stumbled the last part of the way into the bushes. Nat froze as she heard a voice move closer to them muttering a, "what the fuck was that?"

Happy tugged on her wrist and moved them back behind the dumpster quickly. He crouched beside her, putting himself on the outside of her so she was shielded against the wall. With an arm behind her resting on the building and one gripped on the dumpster for support she was pushed close to him, but as the footsteps grew louder she found herself not caring.

The man stopped in the middle of the gap they had just been facing, stumbling slightly. Hidden by the dumpster Nat tried to control her breathing to make the least amount of noise as possible. She only let out a soft sigh after the man had turned and walked away blaming the distraction on fucking raccoons. Waiting until he was gone for good, she and Hap made a run for it successfully ending their getaway escape.

"You alright?" Juice asked her once they rejoined the main group a quarter mile away from the warehouse.

"Yeah," she told him, adjust her backpack.

"Find anything?" Ace asked as they rejoined the group.

She nodded, "some hair samples, dirt and gravel from some tires, a toy that I can lift prints off of and a bed sheet."

She didn't miss how Ace, Jax and Chibs all tensed at the mention of the kid's toy. Their reaction only confirmed what Happy had told her earlier.

"How quick can you get everything analyzed?" Jax asked her.

"I should have some information by tomorrow night if I start some tests in the morning," she responded. "I should have the complete results in a day or two."

"Alright, let us know as soon as you get something okay?" Jax said, pulling his bike out of the bushes he had hid it in.

The others followed suit and it wasn't long until she found herself on the back of her brother's bike headed back to the dingy motel she called home. Happy and Half Sac had tagged along, apparently coupled with what she had found, paired with whatever information Juice and Jax had picked up the Son's were in some deep shit. Before leaving Jax had ordered for no one to be out alone, just a step shy from a full lockdown.

"Home sweet home," she grumbled as she hopped off her brother's bike and slipped off her helmet.

"We really do need to get you into a better place Nat," her brother said seriously as he eyed the motel with slight disgust.

"Already working on it," she replied. "I've already talked to Hale, and he's looking in to getting me placed in one of their local safe houses - they mostly stay pretty empty in a small town like this anyways."

"Safe houses are nice here," Happy added. Nat sent him an amused look.

"Oh really?" she asked. "You're not even supposed to know that they exist. Yet alone where they are or how nice they are."

Happy just smirked and shrugged his shoulders. Natalie let it slide, it wasn't like she figured they played by the rules anyways - she knew better than that.

"I'll give you a call when I've got something," she told her brother as she started moving up the nearby stairwell to her room.

"Don't forget to lock the door," he called out after her seriously. Peering over the railing she glared down at him.

"Yes mother," she replied sarcastically before unlocking her room.

Closing the door quickly behind her, she made sure to lock both the latch and the chain on the door. But as she heard something stir behind her, she immediately regretted it.

She spun around and was met with the blank stare of a middle-aged man. Not bothering to ask questions first she swing out her arm in a well executed punch. With a startled look he avoided the first hit but caught her follow up hook right on the chin.

He let out an angry growl and shoved her against the door she had just entered, pinning her arms to her side. She brought one of her knees up sharply causing him to let out a low hiss. He let go of her for only a moment before he shoved her against the door even harder with a hand around her throat this time.

"Stop fucking around Miss. Wells," he barked. His command startled her, not because of his tone but rather the fact that he had called her by her last name. That wasn't something typical robbers/rapists/felons did in her experience.

"Who the fuck are you," she rasped, finding it difficult to both breath and talk comfortably with him grabbing her so tightly.

"My name is Special Agent Patrick Baker," he replied, not bothered by her struggling. After a few seconds more he finally released her, letting her take in air again normally. Taking a few steps back he readjusted his coat and pulled out a brass badge that she easily recognized.

"What does a state narcotic investigator need from me at this hour of the night?" she questioned harshly.

She had worked with the sister bureau before and it hadn't required her being nearly strangled to do it, so she was curious what warranted the special attention this time.

"We need to have a talk," he told her, moving over to the small desk and flipping on the light switch.

Rubbing her throat she sat on the edge of her bed as he settled himself into the desk chair.

"You couldn't have fucking said that in the first place?" she questioned. "Or waited until I got home, or even just turned the fucking lights on? I'm not sure what protocol you're following but I guarantee you broke at least three federal laws in the past five minutes alone…"

"Enough Ms. Wells," he interrupted. "This is the part where you shut up, and listen very closely to what I am about to say."

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**Sorry it's been so long between updates! Please continue to favorite/follow/_review_ \- it inspires me to write faster ;)**


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